On 9th August, the International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP) Regional Office and the International Labour Organization (ILO) jointly organised an event titled “ILO Recommendation 193 and the Social and Solidarity Economy: Perspectives from the Asia-Pacific Region” to mark twenty years since the adoption of Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No.193). The ILO, in the framework of its 90th International Labour Conference (ILC) organized in June 2002 had adopted the resolution 193 which has been a historic milestone in international labour standards and consolidation of the cooperative identity.
The event, apart from commemorating ILO Recommendation 193, also discussed and reflected upon the recent developments from the 110th ILC in June 2022 which held a General Discussion on ‘Decent Work and the Social and Solidarity Economy’.
Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP welcomed the guests and the participants. He highlighted the importance of the conclusions on Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) from the recently concluded ILC to look ahead in terms of a strategy for the solidarity economy. He outlined the role played by ILO R193 over the past two decades, as a comprehensive tool that looks at the role of governments in creating an enabling environment, public policies guided by cooperative values and principles and the relation between workers and organisations in the attainment of SDGs, through cooperation both at the national and international levels.
Dr. Chandrapal Singh Yadav, President, ICA-AP, in his opening remarks, lauded the role of R193 as a tool and catalyst across the globe to strengthen cooperatives’ advocacy towards the public sector, create public policies, and national laws and enhance awareness about cooperatives as economic and social actors. He stressed upon the crucial role that the recommendation places on governments in establishing the appropriate political, legal, and institutional framework for cooperatives and how this is important in today’s context, as many countries, including India, are in the process of drafting new policies and amending their acts.
Mr. Satoshi Sasaki, Deputy Director, ILO India Office and Director, Decent Work Team - South Asia, in his keynote speech, highlighted the conclusions from the 110th ILC as a milestone since it included an international definition of the SSE; the first time such an international definition was adopted within the United Nations system. He reminded how across the globe and particularly in the Asia and Pacific region, cooperatives constitute the backbone of the SSE and that the ICA as a global representative body has held a general consultative status since the establishment of the ILO.
The 110th ILC committee had proposed detailed conclusions to the conference and a resolution which were adopted at the plenary of the Conference. As a follow up to the resolution and conclusions of the committee, development of a strategy and action plan on decent work and the SSE will be done for consideration at the ILO’s Governing Body at its 346th Session in November 2022. The event discussed this in the second panel with several stakeholders stressing upon the need for regional and international cooperation among SSE actors.
Ms. Simel Esim, Director, ILO-Cooperatives Unit, delivered a video message on ILC conclusions and outlined the role of cooperatives as critical actors in the solidarity economy. Ms. Esim affirmed how the cooperative movement has been a critical partner of the ILO since the inception of the organisation, with the first Director being a cooperator and a dedicated Cooperatives Service setup at the ILO, as early as 1920. She also mentioned the recent conclusions provide sufficient guidance for further action and that it is planned to convert these into an office-wide strategy and action plan for the SSE.
Panel 1 on ‘The Recommendation 193 as a milestone for strengthening the cooperative identity: what can we learn from the efforts over the past 20 years to promote cooperatives?’ Recommendation 193 was moderated by Mr. P Santosh Kumar, Director, Legislation, ICA. The three panellists who participated shared their reflections and perspectives from both the regional and national levels.
Mr. Kelvin Sergeant, Specialist, Sustainable Enterprise Development and Job Creation, ILO Decent Work Team - South Asia made a presentation on key learnings, development cooperation projects and cooperatives, contribution to decent work & sustainable development, jobs & output, etc., relating to ILO R193. Mr. Joseph Ballota Encabo, Chairperson, Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), Philippines and Dr. Dat Chu, Vice Director, International Cooperation Department, Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) both shared their experiences in promoting the cooperative movement at the national levels in the Philippines and Vietnam respectively.
Mr. Encabo exhorted the role played by the ILO R193, cited forward looking policy measures undertaken by the agency for the development of cooperatives in the Philippines and also mentioned about the upcoming International Cooperative Expo to be hosted in the Philippines next year. In context of the ILO R193, Dr. Dat Chu outlined facts about the growth of the cooperative movement in Vietnam, the 2012 national law on cooperatives, and activities undertaken by the VCA including conferences, symposiums and publications for the study and development of a national cooperative strategy etc.
Panel 2 was a discussion ‘Towards a strategy and action plan on decent work and Social and Solidarity Economy’ and was moderated by Ms. Laurence Kwark, Outgoing Secretary General, Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF), South Korea. She shared her reflections both from South Korea and the region, leading GSEF, a representative body for the global social and solidarity movement and advocating for the recognition of SSE.
Ms. Mirai Chatterjee, Chairperson, Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), India outlined SEWA’s joint action and strategy of both unions and cooperatives, while stressing on the three tenets of full employment, self-reliance, and social security. She explained how cooperatives are a viable and constructive alternative to formalising the informal sector (within a country where 93% of the workforce is in the informal sector). She highlighted the need to promote solidarity organisations and pointed out that 88% of women’s enterprises created are still active and viable engaged in six sectors of work and impacted over 300,000 informal women workers. She mentioned the role of women collective enterprises in building resilience and cited the response to Covid-19 in providing emergency relief and rehabilitation. Ms. Juhee Lee, Manager, International Cooperation, iCOOP, South Korea made a presentation on the interventions made by iCoop, a federation of over a hundred consumer cooperatives in South Korea to raise awareness among public and consumers. It develops the overall SSE by providing cooperative start-up counselling, small research support and tie-ups, and scholarships with three universities to support studies in social economy and cooperatives. Datuk Dr. Denison Jayasooria, Head of the Secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia on Sustainable Development Goals (APPGM-SDG), highlighted the cooperative movement’s commitment to an alternative economic model and that the various international resolutions and conclusions have set the policy agenda clearly. However, he noted that policy advocacy should trickle down to the national level to create an enabling environment which is critical for the solidarity economy and for this he called for sustained action to translate international frameworks into national policy agendas.
The panels also discussed pertinent subjects such as the wider application of ILO R193 and developing ILO's 2019 Guidelines on Cooperative Statistics. Specific issues relating to the SSE such as the need for individual SSE actors to foster synergies for collective action and SSE entities’ contribution to a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and sustainable lifestyles were also discussed.
The event concluded with Mr. Iyer’s closing remarks. He thanked the participants, speakers, moderators, partners and co-organisers for taking the time to attend and for the enriching discussion.
